Music and its Audience
When speaking about one artform I find it can be useful to view that medium through the lens of another. Having long held an interest in the art of poetry a question lurking in the back of my mind while writing music for ‘(after)’, my ninth album as composer and leader, was tied to an idea discussed on a frequently listened to poetry podcast called ‘Sleerickets’ hosted by poet Matthew Buckley Smith. The question often discussed is: ‘what should a poem be doing for its reader?’ I take this to mean: ‘where should the emotional weight of the poem be felt’ – with the poet who composes the work, or with the reader who takes in that work? I found myself asking this same type of question of my own work as a composer: ‘what do I want the listener to get out of listening to my music?’